Sunday, December 29, 2019
Keep Speaking Truth Anyway, Even if They Will not Listen
If we want to be forgiven we must confess and ask. If we want wisdom we must admit we don't have it to ask in humility for God to impart it to us.
1 John 1:9
"IF WE CONFESS our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
If we want wisdom we must ask for it.
James 1:4-6 "…4 Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.…"
God will not give these things to those who do not want them enough to ask.
If pride prevents anyone from asking for these things, then those who will not ask will remain unforgiven and unwise.
If you refuse to ask God, then you will not be forgiven and you will not gain wisdom. Very simple, but rejected by most.
2 Timothy 4:2-4 "…2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4 So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.…"
Most people who claim to be Christian in our day are falling into apostasy because preachers who do not belong in the pulpit to begin with will tickle the ears of the people saying things they love to hear that are leading them straight to hell.
1 John 1:9
"IF WE CONFESS our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
If we want wisdom we must ask for it.
James 1:4-6 "…4 Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.…"
God will not give these things to those who do not want them enough to ask.
If pride prevents anyone from asking for these things, then those who will not ask will remain unforgiven and unwise.
If you refuse to ask God, then you will not be forgiven and you will not gain wisdom. Very simple, but rejected by most.
2 Timothy 4:2-4 "…2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4 So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.…"
Most people who claim to be Christian in our day are falling into apostasy because preachers who do not belong in the pulpit to begin with will tickle the ears of the people saying things they love to hear that are leading them straight to hell.
No Confession no Forgiveness or Wisdom
Many things the cultural Christianity say that are based on psychology and not on the word of God have permeated our culture in every venue.
"We must forgive even if the offender is not sorry so we will not become bitter."
"We can divorce and remarry for adultery."
"No one can know the heart of another person."
"We must love ourselves before we can love others."
"No one can know absolute truth"
"Don't judge"
There are so many more mantras that modern Christianity uses that are born out of psychology and have no truth to them. These things often repeat things that are opposing the Word of God, they work against the human spirit to foster a rebellion against God's ways.
If the devil can get people to believe they are being kind by doing the opposite of God's truth, he can causes them to help in the destruction of live even making the helpers feel proud of themselves for it.
Mostly in our day we have more humanistic psychology driving everyone's motives and desires than we have godly ways being spoken. In fact those who evaluate everything according to the Bible are mocked, demeaned and dismissed as unworthy of respect for their devotion entirely to the Word of God.
2 Timothy 4:2-4 "…2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4 So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.…"
God says this will be the case in the last days, however, notice what else He says, keep preaching, be prepared, rebuke when there is error and encourage when believers are going the right way, in short keep going anyway even when people will not listen. We know what they are going to do but we are responsible to obey God and they will be held responsible for what they heard.
We are not responsible for their reaction to us, they remain accountable for their own reactions. No guilt is on us all wrong responses are on them.
Ezekiel 33:8-9 "…8 If I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ but you do not speak out to dissuade him from his way, then that wicked man will die in his iniquity, yet I will hold you accountable for his blood. 9 But if you warn the wicked man to turn from his way, and he does not turn from it, he will die in his iniquity, but you will have saved your life."
God is pretty clear in His word about everything but He will not impart His truth to anyone who does not want it. He will impart His wisdom to anyone who wants it.
James 1:4-6 "…4 Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.…"
"We must forgive even if the offender is not sorry so we will not become bitter."
"We can divorce and remarry for adultery."
"No one can know the heart of another person."
"We must love ourselves before we can love others."
"No one can know absolute truth"
"Don't judge"
There are so many more mantras that modern Christianity uses that are born out of psychology and have no truth to them. These things often repeat things that are opposing the Word of God, they work against the human spirit to foster a rebellion against God's ways.
If the devil can get people to believe they are being kind by doing the opposite of God's truth, he can causes them to help in the destruction of live even making the helpers feel proud of themselves for it.
Mostly in our day we have more humanistic psychology driving everyone's motives and desires than we have godly ways being spoken. In fact those who evaluate everything according to the Bible are mocked, demeaned and dismissed as unworthy of respect for their devotion entirely to the Word of God.
2 Timothy 4:2-4 "…2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4 So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.…"
God says this will be the case in the last days, however, notice what else He says, keep preaching, be prepared, rebuke when there is error and encourage when believers are going the right way, in short keep going anyway even when people will not listen. We know what they are going to do but we are responsible to obey God and they will be held responsible for what they heard.
We are not responsible for their reaction to us, they remain accountable for their own reactions. No guilt is on us all wrong responses are on them.
Ezekiel 33:8-9 "…8 If I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ but you do not speak out to dissuade him from his way, then that wicked man will die in his iniquity, yet I will hold you accountable for his blood. 9 But if you warn the wicked man to turn from his way, and he does not turn from it, he will die in his iniquity, but you will have saved your life."
God is pretty clear in His word about everything but He will not impart His truth to anyone who does not want it. He will impart His wisdom to anyone who wants it.
James 1:4-6 "…4 Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.…"
Only a Born Again Believer can Understand the things of God
When we walk in the Spirit and in Truth we have discernment that is beyond human observation.
We can see the looks on faces and even their walk.
I know someone who goes into the prison in South Carolina, after being there week after week, year after year, he has learned their ways and their stances.
He told me he can tell the attitude of a man by the way he walks down the street. I told him I believe him because I can see on their faces and in the way they sit and walk the rebellion or lack of rebellion in someone.
God said we shall know them by their fruit. That fruit is "love, joy, peace, gentleness and self control." These are not actions, they are character qualities that can be discerned through the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
The Fruit of the Spirit is not actions but rather character qualities. These qualities permeate out from a person to the Spirit filled discerning believer.
Galatians 5:22-23
"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
Jeremiah 17:9-10
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”
The heart of a man is discerned only by God, God lives in us and grants to us that necessary discernment. We do not have a perfect window into the heart of a man as God does, however the Holly Spirit can warn us about someone or He can bless us with connection to another believer who is also filled with the Holy Spirit.
The evidence is there, the clues are there, all we have to do is ask God what we are seeing.
Hebrews 4:12
"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
We are to worship in "Spirit and in Truth", just as we discern through thee Spirit of God and His Truth.
1 Samuel 16:7 "7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart.” "
God told His servant Samuel not to be fooled by appearances, but that God would show him the heart of the man he was to choose to be King. Samuel was not depending on his own observations or guesses based on what the person says. He based his choice on what God was telling him.
God speaks this way to born again believers today too. Sadly not many who say they are Christians are seeking the Lord for wisdom and discernment. Discernment is a gift from God in which we are able to know something that can not be seen or heard with the human senses.
Discernment meaning: The ability to judge well because the Holy Spirit in us is imparting His wisdom to us.
1 John 4:1
"1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you will know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses (lives with their life) that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,…"
Confession is not just words spoken, it is a lifestyle we live that others can witness. Yes we will have words too, but the words must match the lifestyle to be evidence of a godly life.
Romans 12:2
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
We can discern people and events as being right or wrong by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Those who say, "no one can know the heart of man, that only God does", are speaking the truth, however, they are describing the unsaved man who does not have the Holy Spirit. God speaks truth and wisdom to those who belong to Him, we can know the heart of God, we can discern a bad spirit from a good spirit.
1 Corinthians 2:14-15 "…13 And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14 The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment.…"
John 16:13-14 "13 However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you.…"
We can see the looks on faces and even their walk.
I know someone who goes into the prison in South Carolina, after being there week after week, year after year, he has learned their ways and their stances.
He told me he can tell the attitude of a man by the way he walks down the street. I told him I believe him because I can see on their faces and in the way they sit and walk the rebellion or lack of rebellion in someone.
God said we shall know them by their fruit. That fruit is "love, joy, peace, gentleness and self control." These are not actions, they are character qualities that can be discerned through the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
The Fruit of the Spirit is not actions but rather character qualities. These qualities permeate out from a person to the Spirit filled discerning believer.
Galatians 5:22-23
"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
Jeremiah 17:9-10
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”
The heart of a man is discerned only by God, God lives in us and grants to us that necessary discernment. We do not have a perfect window into the heart of a man as God does, however the Holly Spirit can warn us about someone or He can bless us with connection to another believer who is also filled with the Holy Spirit.
The evidence is there, the clues are there, all we have to do is ask God what we are seeing.
Hebrews 4:12
"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
We are to worship in "Spirit and in Truth", just as we discern through thee Spirit of God and His Truth.
1 Samuel 16:7 "7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the LORD sees the heart.” "
God told His servant Samuel not to be fooled by appearances, but that God would show him the heart of the man he was to choose to be King. Samuel was not depending on his own observations or guesses based on what the person says. He based his choice on what God was telling him.
God speaks this way to born again believers today too. Sadly not many who say they are Christians are seeking the Lord for wisdom and discernment. Discernment is a gift from God in which we are able to know something that can not be seen or heard with the human senses.
Discernment meaning: The ability to judge well because the Holy Spirit in us is imparting His wisdom to us.
1 John 4:1
"1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you will know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses (lives with their life) that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,…"
Confession is not just words spoken, it is a lifestyle we live that others can witness. Yes we will have words too, but the words must match the lifestyle to be evidence of a godly life.
Romans 12:2
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
We can discern people and events as being right or wrong by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Those who say, "no one can know the heart of man, that only God does", are speaking the truth, however, they are describing the unsaved man who does not have the Holy Spirit. God speaks truth and wisdom to those who belong to Him, we can know the heart of God, we can discern a bad spirit from a good spirit.
1 Corinthians 2:14-15 "…13 And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14 The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment.…"
John 16:13-14 "13 However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you.…"
Trials Reveal and Refine
God allows difficulty in our lives to bring out of us what is really inside already. Those difficulties shape us only in that they reveal what needs fixing within us. When we seek the face of God in the middle of our trials, God will give us wisdom through it. If we do not seek Christ in our trials we become spiritually and emotionally weak.
James 1:12
"12 Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him."
Romans 12:12
"12 rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,"
James 1:2-8
"2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,
8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."
James 1:12
"12 Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him."
Romans 12:12
"12 rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,"
James 1:2-8
"2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,
8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."
Friday, December 27, 2019
Be prepared to be betrayed by your family and friends in the last days!
Sharing to watch later! If you are deeply committed to the Word of God, searching it to answer everything you will despised by those who call themselves Christian.
The Nature of an Authentic Believer
Some will say only God knows the heart, this is true, but He imparts to us His wisdom to know who are our real brothers and sisters.
Matthew 7:15-20
A Tree and Its Fruit
15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will know them by their fruits.
John 13:35 " 35 By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” "
Galatians 5:22-23 "22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
Someone who has contempt for another believer cannot be born again.
How to tell if someone became born again authentically!
The most important sign that someone has been born again is the complete change of thinking. They no longer desire the sin they used to love. They do not have to try to resist it, there is no draw to it, they are repulsed by that same sin that they used to love.
There are many people who claim to have become a Christian who do not seem to have changed at all. They still like the same things, they still believe the same rubbish, they refuse correction, they love their error and they have no love of Christ in them.
We see the staunchness in their stiff neck as they resist correction or counsel.
Someone who is born again becomes humble and interested in learning what is right and knowing what is wrong to change.
Think about it!
A Tree and Its Fruit
15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will know them by their fruits.
John 13:35 " 35 By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” "
Galatians 5:22-23 "22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
Someone who has contempt for another believer cannot be born again.
How to tell if someone became born again authentically!
The most important sign that someone has been born again is the complete change of thinking. They no longer desire the sin they used to love. They do not have to try to resist it, there is no draw to it, they are repulsed by that same sin that they used to love.
There are many people who claim to have become a Christian who do not seem to have changed at all. They still like the same things, they still believe the same rubbish, they refuse correction, they love their error and they have no love of Christ in them.
We see the staunchness in their stiff neck as they resist correction or counsel.
Someone who is born again becomes humble and interested in learning what is right and knowing what is wrong to change.
Think about it!
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